Dickey West Ledges: 5/13/19

A short hike and bushwhack in familiar territory. Can't wear a backpack right now due to a shoulder infection, so I experimented with a double waist pack set-up - one slung over the good shoulder, the other on my hip. It worked OK but was awkward, limited in capacity, and required frequent adjustment. Wouldn't be suitable for a longer trip.

Beaver ponds in Dickey Notch. Needed to replace a damaged geocache here.

 Many Spring beauties were blooming in the Notch.

Found a few Dutchman's Breeches!

Heading up the Dickey side of Dickey Notch.

Quite the burl.

Hello there!

 

Wanted to check out an area badly damaged by the October 2017 storm. It was a slow, meandering climb through this area. The low-profile waist pack set-up was an advantage here.

Start of the blowdown area.

Yikes!

Drainage of destruction.

Big spruce down.

Not going that way.

Nice vista of Cone Mountain.

Tangled.

Desolation.

Nice ledge band.

Was happy to reach the intact forest above, with just a few old blowdowns lying around.

A small brook crossed on a hardwood traverse.

Looked like Ruffed Grouse scat.

Looking SW from the first of the western ledges.

Heading across a ledge band that is more than 0.1 mile in width. I proceeded slowly and carefully to avoid trampling moss and lichen.

Looking NW towards Mt. Moosilauke, where the search for a missing Dartmouth student hiker had a happy ending on this day. Kudos to the many SAR folks that were out searching for him from Saturday night through Monday morning. Wanted to go out on Monday, but a full pack would be needed for a day of line-searching up there in potential deep spring snow conditions.

The ledges continue.

Long view to the north beyond Fisher Mountain.

Pointy peaks of the Franconia Range.

Wild spurs of Mt. Tecumseh rise above the Shattuck Brook valley.

A contorted white pine.

I eventually made my way to the Welch-Dickey Loop Trail and descended along the great Dickey Cliff.

Excellent view of the Campton Range, a favorite spring stomping ground.